REVIEW: 10 surprising things about 'Springsteen on Broadway'

Pete Chianca

Saturday

Aug 4, 2018 at 1:09 PMAug 5, 2018 at 11:41 AM

I finally saw "Springsteen on Broadway," and was surprised by how much it surprised me.

It took a while -- about nine months of kvetching and finagling before a kind benefactor set me up with a face-value ticket -- but I finally had the opportunity to see “Springsteen on Broadway” last week. And as I expected, I was amazed, engrossed and genuinely moved. And also, on many levels, surprised, even with months of advance knowledge of what to expect.

Thousands of words have been written about the show, with exactly none of them (including those below) really doing it justice -- all I can say is get there if you can, or plan to be glued to Netflix when it debuts there Dec. 15. And in the meantime, here are 10 things that I didn’t expect when I walked into the Walter Kerr Theater July 27.

1) The songs are sort of beside the point. Now, I’m not saying it’s not a thrill to see Bruce perform solo acoustic versions of classics like “The Promised Land” and “My Hometown,” not to mention rarities like “The Wish” and “My Father’s House.” But what I wouldn’t have predicted is that Springsteen’s monologues would have been so engrossing -- so funny and moving -- that I’d find myself at least halfways wishing the song would end so we could get to the next story.

2) The old stories never get old. Any diehard fan will know at least some of these stories, having read them in Bruce’s memoir or heard him tell versions of them onstage or during interviews. But the way he’s crafted them here -- with each pause, each aside, each knowing expression so effectively delivered, be it during his recollections of visiting his mother at work or his father in the local bar -- makes you feel like you’re hearing them for the first time.

3) The man can ACT. The fact that, 160 shows in, Bruce can deliver these monologues with such passion and seemingly genuine emotion means there’s at least a little fakery going on -- the way his voice catches, the way he reacts to the audience, all seem spectacularly unrehearsed, and yet they can’t be. But the fact that he can summon such real joy and melancholy night after night says that Springsteen’s performing abilities go well beyond his ability to engage us musically -- he’s become such a master at playing “Bruce Springsteen” that he more than deserved that Tony.

4) The Walter Kerr Theatre is freakin’ small. Yes, everyone talks about how small it is, but until you walk in there -- and specifically, when Bruce takes the stage and the guy you’re used to sharing with crowds of 20,000 of more steps out in front of you, so close you can almost smell him -- you can’t quite appreciate how intimate an experience it is. This is never more apparent than during those moments when he goes off mic: When his unadorned voice wafts out into the small crowd, Bruce’s concept of the ongoing conversation between him and his audience becomes thrillingly literal.

5) The audience. Speaking of that conversation, I was struck by the audience’s conjoined responses at various points during the show -- the shared gasps when Bruce talked about his mother’s Alzheimer’s, or the spontaneous “aw!” when he announced Patti’s bad back would keep her from performing that night. If there’s ever been a more attentive and responsive audience I haven’t seen it -- a far cry from the chatty beer guzzlers and bathroom visitors at his stadium shows. (Also, let’s face it -- it was nice to sit for a change!)

7) Bruce can’t help himself. With its reliance on spoken-word interludes and the intimate theater setting, this was very much a theatrical production and not a concert, rock or otherwise. But by the end of the show, when “Dancing in the Dark” brought the crowd to its feet and “Land of Hope and Dreams” kept it there, we were rocking out with abandon, just like at every Springsteen show before it -- Bruce can’t help but take us there. Granted, he told us to “Please be seated -- you’re making me nervous!” before he launched into a touching acoustic “Born to Run,” and we complied.

8) I got an encore! Solo acoustic “This Hard Land” has always been on my Bruce bucket list. Check! (Still sorry I didn't get to see Patti though.)

9) It’s possible that nobody else could do this. I’ve been wracking my brain for another artist who could pull off this type of show -- someone with that deep a connection to his or her audience, with the innate ability to relate stories of a life and a country in such simple and moving terms, with the songs to back those stories up and, ideally, a larger-than-life personal legend to gleefully deconstruct. I can’t think of someone who wouldn’t ramble (Dylan) or preen (Jagger) or exasperate (Sting) -- Springsteen may have just created a medium ideally suited to just himself. (Although if there’s anyone I think I’d like to see try to pull it off, it’s Elvis Costello -- he should get on that.)

10) This show could live forever. Yes, through the upcoming Netflix special, which will no doubt be studied for years to come by artists who want to understand how to truly connect with a crowd. But also via the show itself -- with its structure, its stories and the way it captures Springsteen the man as well as Springsteen the artist, I could see “Springsteen on Broadway” still being performed in 100 years, the way great actors bring Mark Twain and Groucho Marx to life today.

And the best part is, we’ll be able to say we saw it with the bon fide original. Thanks for the opportunity, Bruce.